IPSWICH, S.D. (KFYR) – It was an awe-inspiring night for many across the country Friday as the Northern Lights took over the sky. What’s been deemed by scientists as the biggest solar storm in 20 years produced a colorful aurora borealis, but it also wreaked havoc on technology, putting many Midwest farmers a step behind Saturday.
Dennis Wolff farms in Ipswich, South Dakota. Friday night during the solar storm, he received a phone call from a friend asking if he was having GPS problems. He also told Wolff that he had received calls from multiple people saying they were having issues with their equipment.
About 30 minutes after that phone call, between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Friday, Wolff started experiencing his own malfunctions.
“It showed the tractor going in circles and auto steer didn’t work, and you couldn’t engage it,” said Wolff.
At around 10 p.m. Friday, everything shut down for Wolff. The satellites Saturday morning took half an hour to start up again, rather than their usual five minutes. We’d have more photos to share, but Wolff is still experiencing disruptions in his service.
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Source: kfyrtv.com
